「I told you didn't I- Wait, what are you sorry for, again?」
She pulls her tearful face away and looks up in his eyes as she sobs.
「I- I…」
「What?」
「I was completely wrong about you! I'm sorry, Straf!」
「…And just what did you think about me?」
「I… I'm too ashamed to even say it! Please forgive me Straf!」
Her lips tremble, arms still wrapped around him.
「Tsk, well, whatever-」
「But!」
She suddenly jumps back, separating herself away from him. She points at the dark sword in his hand.
「You can't use that thing, Straf! You can't!」
「Huuuh?! But it's pretty kick-ass, isn't it?」
She clenches her hands into fists, as her wet determined emerald eyes look into his.
「You can't! It's evil! It's cruel!」
She pauses her protests and looks down at the ground for just a second before continuing.
「Depriving someone of an afterlife like that, it's just too cruel. It's unlike someone like you, Straf!」
There is a displeased slant to Straf's mouth as he looks at Cycelia's face full of determination.
《Man, she's such a nice girl… And such a pain in the ass. Having a morality pet is a cliche… But why do I have to get one dropped in my lap this early?! How about a villain protagonist arc first?!》
He rolls his eyes and sighs.
「Fiiine… I'll get rid of it…」
He walks up to one of the trash cans and throws it in.
「Gya! Not like this!」
Cycelia runs up to the trash can and reaches for the sword… But Straf grabs her wrist. Their eyes meet.
「Careful… Touch it, and it'll devour your soul and steal your body.」
Ba-dump. Ba-dump.
Stunned, she blinks with parted lips as she stares at his face. Finally, she processes his warning and her jaw drops. Cycelia jumps away from the sword and points at it, her arm shaking heavily.
「Aaa! All the more reason you can't just leave that laying there!」
「Tsk. Fine. I'll just keep it around, then.」
He pulls the sword out with nary a problem, and opens his [Portable Storage] at his side…
「Man. Omnicidus. Buddy, you've become a real…」
He glances up as he searches for the right word…
「Messer non grata lately, huh? Almost feel bad for you… If you weren't a soul-eating, blood-drinking hunk of metal.」
Straf throws the sword in as if it was a piece of garbage. It growls again as it disappears into [Portable Storage], and the hole closes.
「Well. That's one off the checklist. Say, Lia, is there an adventurers' guild around here?」
He places his fists on his hips again as he turns to ask Cycelia.
「…Lia?」
「Yeah. Your name is pretty long, so how's that for a pet name?」
Ba-dump.
「P- Pe-… Ahum.」
She clears her throat. She points down the street, a crowd gathered just out of the zone of carnage, wondering if it's safe to return.
「I- It'll be just down this road a bit. It has a sign, you can't miss it…」
「Great, let's go.」
He turns away, and starts walking in the direction she pointed.
「Wait wait wait! What if the manhunters come back-」
「Come on, how soon do you think they'll show their faces after this embarrassment?」
He asks Cycelia as he hops over one of the streetlamps shattered on the cobblestone road. She lowers her eyes, ashamed of being such a craven princess…
Straf starts laughing like a madman again. This concerns her enough to look back up at him, but he simply keeps hopping over the lamps and crushing glass beneath his boots as he walks, cackling.
《Have fun having to actually use torches on this street, like real medieval townspeople would!》
「Um… What are you laughing about?」
「Ahahahaha! Ahhh… You wouldn't get it.」
Straf manages to calm himself down with a sigh as they walk past the crowd, which serves as their signal that the street is open again.
…
They walk for a few minutes along the road as Straf takes in the surroundings, looking at buildings and people as he walks past.
「These pastiche buildings… Seriously, can they decide on the time period to rip them off from?」
A sign sticking out of the wall and hanging above a door of one of the buildings catches Straf's eye. Its graphic features a sword on the backdrop of a forest.
「Ah. This must be here. What a vague and indescript signage. Guess everyone around here just gets these things.」
He pushes the door and walks in, Cycelia follows closely behind. At a first glance it looks like a tavern, or an inn. Round tables with stools fill the room.
However, a large wooden message board is hanging on a wall right next to what would normally be the bartender's table. It's completely cluttered with slips of paper nailed to it. Rough looking men occupy most of the tables with tankards in hand, watching as they walk inside.
「Woah. Of course it would look like this.」
Straf walks up to the long table and looks at the message board…
[Find my ring!] [Herbs needed] [Kill 10 wolves] [Escort wanted]
「Guess paper is not worth much…」
「Welcome. Are you here to register?」
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A woman standing behind the desk asks.
「Sure thing, are there any crystals that will detect my magic potential?」
「...No. You'll have to try the mages' guild. Fill this out, please.」
She slides a registration form towards Straf across the desk. Straf picks it up and reads it.
「Of course it's in English. Being illiterate would be too much for an average rat-hunting chump.」
「…English?」
Cycelia peeks over Straf's shoulder and asks quietly. He puts the form down on the desk, takes the quill from the inkwell nearby and starts writing…
「Name… Easy enough. Age… I guess 20-ish? Let's see…」
He mutters to himself as he keeps writing on the paper, dipping the quill in ink from time to time.
「Birth… No. Birthplace… None. Place of residence… None, I'm a glorified hobo after all…」
Cycelia's eyebrows rise as she can only make parts of his muttering out.
「Parents… Names… Hm… There. Done.」
He slides the paper back to the woman, she picks it up and skims through it. Immediately, she lowers it and looks at Straf with furrowed brows and squinting eyes.
「Birth. None?」
「Yeah.」
Straf nods and declares matter-of-factly with his fists on his hips. She sighs.
「You're supposed to write whether you're of noble birth or not.」
「Nope. But she is, does that count?」
He says as he nods his head towards Cycelia behind him.
「...No. Are you fine with the rest of the form, then?」
「I guess. Am I going to get a little dogtag? Or some plate to wear around my neck to signify my rank?」
「Wha-? No… I will explain everything in a moment…」
The exasperated guild girl strikes-through some parts of what Straf wrote, then walks away from the desk to a back room…
Clang!
A loud sound of metal on metal rings out from the room she entered a minute or two ago. As if something was just stamped…
She returns and places an oval, slightly bent, stamped copper plate on the desk. Thin cords run through holes near its edges, knotted at each end so they don't fall out. Straf picks it up and reads it…
Katastrof Vindict
Straf
DOB - 2E 217 | POB - | DCA -
「POB is easy enough to figure out, but what's DCA?」
「Death correspondence address. Since you haven't listed anyone we could contact, I left it blank.」
「And what's with the date?」
「What… Is the calendar different from where you come from?」
The guild girl squints at Straf with furrowed brows again. Cycelia leans in over Straf's shoulder to take a better look at his identificator. She points her dainty finger to 2E on the plate.
「You don't know, Straf? This means second era…」
She moves her finger to the number, 217.
「…And this means year 217. It's currently year 14 of the third era. Second era ended when the last of the plague died down. That was in the year 224 of second era…」
She looks Straf in the eyes and closes them for a second while smiling brightly.
「That means we're about the same age!」
She retreats behind his back still smiling, but her eyes look at the blank spaces with concern.
「Right. And how did the first era end?」
「With the death of the demon lord.」
「Thought as much…」
He looks up from the copper plate in his palm at the guild girl.
「So, I have copper rank and have to take low level quests until I advance up, right?」
「...Rank?」
Thoroughly confused girl asks Straf. Her confusion confuses him.
「What? You mean there's no system to keep me from taking quests like killing a dragon as a rookie?」
「...No? Although taking on a dragon would be ill-advised.」
「…Why is it copper, then?」
「It's the cheapest, malleable, durable material we can stamp the identificators out of.」
「But if there's no ranks, what's the point of these?」
「It's so your body can be identified and returned to your family, in the event of your death.」
「Tsk. Man, what a piece of actual garbage.」
Straf clicks his tongue with displeasure at the very functional identificator.
「What's the toughest quest you've got then? And don't give me rats in the sewers.」
「Well, we do have a rat problem, but…」
She reaches for one of the papers, rips it off the board and presents it to Straf.
[Troll hunt]
A troll has decided to move into a forest just outside the city. It's docile now, but it's only a matter of time until a massacre starts. Please get rid of it before anyone gets hurt!
Reward: 3 gold
Issuer: Mayor Rhobard
「We have this troll quest. Nobody is brave enough to take it on. You should try something easier, I'm showing it to you just so you know it's there-」
「Nice. We'll take it.」
「Wh- Wait, that's a bad idea. I insist you should try something easier-」
The guild girl is surprised by Straf's confidence, considering he just registered…
「What, you said there's nothing stopping me from taking any quest?」
「There isn't, but trolls are vicious and powerful monsters.」
「Do you have an idea where to find it?」
「It's in the woods straight ahead just outside the gate, but I really insist-」
「Can't be worse than sewer manholes. Let's go, Lia.」
「Umm… Is this really a good idea-」
Cycelia has her doubts about the quest too, but Straf interrupts her by holding his fist in front of her and saying…
「Here, take this.」
She reflexively cups her hands below his fist, and Straf drops a copper plate into them.
「Throw this into the trash somewhere for me, could you?」
「Huh?! But isn't this your identificator-」
Her mouth opens and eyes widen in shock.
「I don't have a family anyway, it's worthless.」
He looks at Cycelia and smiles a little bit as he walks towards the exit.
《…Because there's absolutely nothing in this world that can pose a threat to me at this point!》
Straf thinks to himself, as he nearly rips the door out pulling it open.
「You… Don't?」
She quietly asks Straf in sullen surprise, far too quiet for him to hear her as she looks down at the small copper plate in her hands.
Ba-dump.
《…Did he also lose his family? Then how can he keep smiling like this, like nothing is wrong?》
Ba-dump. Ba-dump.
She clasps it gently with her pale fingers, and runs after him.